According to a story on The Hollywood Reporter, John Cena is in talks to star as Duke Nukem in a “a star vehicle” film for the former wrestler.
Photo: Willy Sanjuan | AP
There is no director or writer attached to the project at the moment; right now it’s all on paper as a means to get Cena on the big screen in an action role.
Michael Bay’s production company Platinum Dunes will be making the movie.
In case you need reminding, Duke Nukem – once a popular video game star with a critically and commercially successful series under his belt – has been a bit of a laughing stock since the disastrous release in 2011 of Duke Nukem Forever.
Comments
40 responses to “John Cena Might Might Star In A Duke Nukem Movie”
ah yes, what a great time to make a film about a white male power fantasy who treats women like garbage. I don’t foresee any backlash there.
Of course. We often forget aspirations of power, violence and the mistreatment of women is exclusively a white male problem.
incorrect, however in this instance I was referring to Duke Nukem being a white male.
That is indeed a correct observation of Duke Nukem’s race and gender.
May I ask why this is relevant?
my point was that he’s a white male, not that “aspirations of power, violence and the mistreatment of women is exclusively a white male problem.”
Any thing else captain obvious?
apparently I’m not being obvious enough.
You’re absolutely right. Duke Nukem is a white male. I’m not disagreeing with you. I guess I’m still trying to work out why this merits specific mention?
What you’re talking about is an observation, not so much a ‘point’. Was there a point?
it merits a mention because it seems like your original comment was “Of course. We often forget aspirations of power, violence and the mistreatment of women is exclusively a white male problem.”
I took that comment as you interpreting my own comment as a ‘white male power fantasy’ as written for white males, not that he was a white male character who is a power fantasy. I was clarifying my original post.
My original point, which you missed or are ignoring, was a sarcastic and sardonic reference that a film in today’s climate whose main protagonist is a character who is a white male and treats women like shit will face backlash.. and your comments kind of prove my point.
Careful not to cut yourself on all that edge.
He risks his life to save women.
PC Principle…that you?
@velathial I’m not even making a PC point. I was only pointing out that the climate for a film about him at the moment will leave it open to PC backlash.
Okay fine, I understand now – honestly.
I thought you were coming from the perspective that such backlash is justified. It wasn’t immediately clear.
@longwittyusername all good dude. at any rate, if it’s anything like every other video game movie it’ll have nothing to do with the game except for the character names.
I’ll assume your name is in reference to Nelly the singer?
http://www.tmz.com/2017/12/20/nelly-sued-by-rape-accuser-sexual-assault-defamation/
Better change your name.
it’s a reference to my own name.
Is SoakedByRKelly taken?
TouchedByBCosby?
Depends how it’s done I guess.
Know what would be even better?
Make Duke a socially conscientious secondary character to a female protagonist a la Fury Road.
Ewww can we not? I mean, I still love the old DN3D titles, but it won’t translate to film well without losing a lot of what makes it Duke Nukem.
It would need to be funny because much of what made Duke wouldn’t work seriously in this day and age.
I always imagined Ash from Evil Dead as a pretty good example, partly because they shared catch phrases, but mostly because despite being a dork, he still comes off as cool.
While i agree that it probably wont translate well. He comes from an era where over the top action heroes were almost dead and it satired those under his persona along with pop cultural jokes. With out some smart jokes and possibly dubbing Jon st. John over John Cena it prob wont satisfy, but like anything im curious to see the outcome.
If treated properly with decent writing, there could be an opportunity for a deconstruction of the misogynistic action hero trope and introduce some character growth.
Ah, who am I kidding? It will be mindless tripe fraught with issues for some and crapping all over fond memories for others. It will suck.
It could be a Last Action Hero type movie.
Had the exact same thought as you until I got to the line:An intelligent Michael Bay film? Hah!
this called an ACTION movie, men to be just explions tiny plot and gun fist fights and kick ass stunts, fucken dumb ass.
Wat…
Well I’m there if there are guaranteed explions.
Maybe he might not might not
I’d like to say they could use the opportunity to try to reinvent Duke and make him popular again, but…
Yep, two hours of explosions, American flags, exploding American flags and cringeworthy product placements.
John St John isn’t keen on it.
It will be shot in 1st person view like the game, because you know……you cant see him…………..
This was the comment I was waiting for!
Why not go back to Dukes roots and shoot it as a 2d side scroller?
I guess the easiest way to do this would be to take a bit of Captain America and a lot of Austin Powers and make it about bringing a simple, stereotypical character into a more nuanced world.
Still a lot of room for that to be very very bad, but I feel like lampshading the whole thing is likely to be the only way this might work.
Either that or they make it a Bojack Horseman typed deal. Which they won’t, but that’s a movie I might pay to see.
Woo hoo! Been waiting for years and years for duke movie. You all read to much into it. Babes, bikes and dead pigs! Its a movie for shits and giggles, us fans will love it.
COME GET SOME!
I say yeah why not. Cena does look the part and this role wouldn’t require too much acting. It’s not a dark theme like Doom, it just has to be a fun movie about shooting aliens. Most videogame movies try to take themselves too seriously so this might be one that pushes itself in the other direction. Plus no one expects a duke nukem movie to be good so what do thet have to lose?